Saffron Rice

When creating a Rosh Hashanah menu, I’m always thinking about balance. We eat so many sweet foods to celebrate the Jewish New Year, which is a wonderful tradition– but it can also be overwhelming. Honey, apples, tzimmes, cake, kugel… it’s a lot of sweetness.

That’s why I love serving saffron rice as a Rosh Hoshanah side dish. The subtle, savory saffron flavor compliments all the sweet, rich flavors of the Rosh Hashanah holiday. It tastes buttery, even though it’s dairy free. It’s super easy to make for a large crowd, and takes less than 45 minutes from start to finish. It’s also very pretty and festive.

When my friend Farah taught me some of her family’s Persian Jewish recipes last year, she gave me a tip that helps to open up the flavor of the saffron spice. She suggested soaking the spice in hot water for a few minutes before adding it to the dish. I now do this when I make saffron rice, and it makes a big difference on flavor. The rice becomes rich with saffron flavor and aroma.

Here are three more important tips:

#1: Invest in good quality saffron. I say invest, because saffron can be very pricey. You only use a small amount, but you also get a very small amount in most bottles. If a bottle of saffron threads costs less than $10, it’s probably not worth buying. I don’t recommend the bag full of saffron that costs $5… it’s not the stuff you want, and it won’t give you the flavor you need.

#2: Don’t omit the salt… the combination of salt, saffron, and caramelized onions gives this rice a rice, buttery flavor. You won’t believe there’s no dairy when you taste it!

If you’d like to make this dish pareve or vegan, you can use water in the place of chicken stock. I prefer the chicken stock because it adds a lot of flavor to the rice. If you do use water, add an extra pinch of salt to make up for the salt in the chicken stock.

We eat saffron rice all year round, particularly during the winter months, because it’s both healthy and cozy– it’s the kind of comfort food that is good for you. It’s also gluten free if you use a certified GF chicken stock. Enjoy!!

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Thanks for the “pinch” amount clarification! I am making Chicken Continental (Naomi Judd’s recipe) and couldn’t find her recommended “packaged Mahamta saffron rice”. So making my own with unflavored Mahamta basmati!

Hi Jacqueline, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. For cooking, saffron is most commonly measured in “pinches” because the threads are too difficult to neatly measure into teaspoon amounts. A “pinch” of saffron is several threads. Half of the saffron threads are crushed and half are left whole so that there are whole threads of saffron mixed throughout the rice.

I am trying this tonight as a side dish w/ chicken fajitas; however, one difference to the recipe is that the rice started out already seasoned w/ saffron. I had purchased it from an Amish general store in PA. I tasted it and it’s good to me, so I hope the others like it! :0)

Hi Mimi, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Saffron lends a nice, savory flavor to the rice that is very unique. It is certainly expensive, but in our opinion quite worth it. Plus you usually only need a small amount. I”m not sure about the rice cooker.